While I was in Cooperstown, N.Y., for Ken Griffey Jr.'s Hall of Fame induction, I was asked by someone who would be the next Reds player to go into the Hall of Fame.

My response — on July 24, 2016 — was that the next Reds Hall of Famer had yet to play for the Reds.

Since that day, Joey Votto has hit .343/.458/.596 in 224 games and added two top-10 MVP voting finishes, including a second-place finish in 2017.

Now, my answer seems to be wrong. Votto could very well be the next Reds player to be enshrined in Cooperstown.

So, how close is he? There are statistical models to look at what could happen, but that kind of analysis often misses a crucial part of the Hall of Fame equation — that it's decided by voters.

The Athletic reached out to a number of people — including Hall of Fame expert Jay Jaffe (creator of the invaluable Jaffe War System for Hall of Fame evaluation), current Hall of Fame voters and future Hall of Fame...

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